Valery Spiridonov, a 31-year-old Russian graphic artist, looks on during a press conference on "Autopilot system for wheelchairs" on August 3, 2016 in Moscow. Spiridonov has volunteered to be the first patient to undergo a head transplant.
YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty Images

But will this be a medical advance, or are we stepping into dangerous ethical territory?

Valery Spiridonov, 31, has volunteered himself for the controversial procedure. Spiridonov resides in Vladimir, Russia, and suffers from the genetic disorder, Werdnig-Hoffman’s disease, which destroys muscles and brain and spinal nerve cells. Dr. Xiaoping Ren of Harbin, China is the surgeon who will perform the procedure.

The transplant would take approximately 36 hours and cost up to $100 million. Critics of the operation argue that the negative implications far outweigh the scientific breakthroughs. Aside from Spiridonov’s death, speculation of adverse reactions to the transplant have ranged from uncontrollable phantom limb pain to insanity.

What do you think of the first head transplant? Are the risks to the patient’s well being outweighed by the potential medical breakthroughs of the procedure?

Guests:

James Giordano, Ph.D., professor of neurology and chief of the neuroethics studies program at Georgetown University Medical Center

Nita A. Farahany, J.D., Ph.D., bioethicist and professor of law and philosophy at Duke University